The de Havilland Mosquito in the Mediterranean

No. 23 Squadron was first to use the Mosquito in the Mediterranean. The squadron had converted to the Mosquito in July 1942, at which time it was conducting intruder operations over German airfields. In December 1942 the squadron moved to Malta, from where it performed similar duties over Sicily, Italy and Tunisia. In September 1943 Sardinia was captured by the Allies and in December No. 23 Squadron moved to the island. Its field of operations now expanded to include northern Italy and southern France. Finally, in May 1944 the squadron returned to Britain.

By that time two more squadrons were using the Mosquito in the Mediterranean. A detachment of night fighter Mosquitoes from No. 256 Squadron had moved to Malta in July 1943, in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. The entire squadron moved to Malta in October 1943. After a brief period in Algeria in the spring of 1944, the squadron moved to Sardinia (August 1944) then to Italy (September 1944). For the rest of the war it performed intruder operations over the Balkans until the end of the war.

No. 108 Squadron, based at Shandur near the Suez Canal, briefly used the Mosquito between February and July 1944 to conduct intruder operations, while at the same time operating the Beaufighter as a defensive night fighter. No. 46 Squadron also operated a small number of Mosquitoes in the eastern Mediterranean from July 1944 until the unit returned to Britain in December 1944.

No. 255 Squadron was already based in Italy and performing the same duty over the Balkans when it converted to the Mosquito in January 1945. The same was true of No. 600 Squadron, which also began to convert to the Mosquito in January 1945, performing night fighter defensive and offensive duties until the end of the war.

As the war ended No. 614 was preparing to receive the Mosquito B Mk 25 for use as a pathfinder aircraft, although the aircraft did not reach them until the summer of 1945. The Mosquito was also used for photo reconnaissance work in the Mediterranean.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (15 April 2007), The de Havilland Mosquito in the Mediterranean , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_mosquito_mediterranean.html

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